Pot and pan washing machines, of the type used in restaurants, institutions and other eating facilities often involve a large wash tank or basin in which water (mixed with detergent, generally a cleaning “fluid”) is circulated within a wash tank to wash the “wares” (i.e. pots, pans, utensils, flatware/silverware, etc.) to provide a washing action. One such machine is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,436 issued to Cantrell et al. (the “'436 Patent”), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The machine of the '436 Patent includes a wash tank with multiple jets evenly spaced apart at an elevated position along the rear wall of the wash tank. The tank is filled with water/detergent (fluid) to a level above the position of the jets. Pots and pans and other wares are placed in the wash tank, and a pump is activated to draw fluid from within the wash tank and direct it through the jets to create a jet stream. Each jet directs its jet stream toward the bottom wall of the wash tank, the bottom wall then deflects the jet stream upward and towards the front wall of the tank. The front wall then deflects the upward moving jet stream towards the rear wall of the tank, and the rear wall deflects the jet stream downward and back towards the front wall along the bottom wall. The combination of deflections of the jet stream from the bottom, front and rear walls provides a rolling washing action within the wash tank that results in effective cleaning of all surfaces of the wares being washed.
Additional improvements to the washing machine and method of washing wares are further disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,976,496 (the “'496 Patent”), U.S. application Ser. No. 12/697,534 (the “'534” Application), and U.S. Ser. No. 12/842,984 (the “'984” Application), the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. For instance, the '496 Patent discloses a powered utensil basket that captures a jet stream from the washing machine in which the basket is located to maintain the washing action of the machine within the basket; the '534 Application discloses a washing system and method for washing small, irregularly shaped objects; and the '984 Application discloses a washing system and method for washing produce.
Although the prior art washing machine disclosed in the '436 Patent provides an exceptional wash action for washing items, it is not designed for defrosting items. Nevertheless, it is desirable to defrost many food and other frozen items in fluid to increase defrost efficiency and safety. Furthermore, although the additional features disclosed in the '496 Patent, the '534 Application, and the '984 Application improve upon the system and method for washing items, they alone are not sufficient to enable utilization of the washing machine for defrosting items. Thus it would be beneficial to provide systems and methods of safely and rapidly defrosting food items in commercial restaurants.